Highlights of the Ministry of Labor

Formal implementation of relevant amendments to shorten legal working hours as set forth in the “Labor Standards Act” was initiated. Key amendments include: shortening legal working hours to 40 hours per week, increasing the time required for preserving worker attendance records to five years and raising penalty levels for violations. In addition, the provision of ”Employers may, based on the needs of workers who tend to their family members, to allow workers the flexibility to adjust their starting and finishing time at work of up to one hour with no changes to the total daily work hours” was updated.

2016-01-01

In coordination with the “Enforcement Rules of the Labor Standards Act” which was amended on December 9, 2015, amendments were made to delete the provision of “Basic wage of child labor should not be lower than 70% of basic wage” and direct adjustments were made to increase the former monthly insurance salary of less than NT$20,008 for the insured under 16 years old to NT$20,008.

2016-01-01

The Taichung City Government, in accordance with the “Ministry of Labor Commissioning to Handle Employment Center Business Implementation Plan” promulgated by Ministry of Labor on April 21, 2015, accepted the commission to run the Fongyuan Employment Services Center for employment services for three years starting January 1, 2016.

2016-01-01

To protect workers who use hazardous chemicals, starting January 1, 2016, the Ministry of Labor implemented the “Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS)” fully to be in line with international practices. This is an important milestone in Taiwan with regard to promoting chemical product management.

2016-01-01

The “Directions of Reward Payment for Public Monitoring Report Safety and Health” was amended and promulgated to expand the scope of reporting and increase the rewards for flagging and reporting violations.

2016-01-05

In response to statutory normal working hours being 40 hours a week staring on January 1, 2016, the Ministry of Labor amended the amount of energy related to assessment of long-term heavy work in the “Occupational Precipitating Cerebrovascular and Heart Diseases (Except for Trauma Cause) of the Identified Reference Guide”.

2016-01-05

Certain provisions set forth in the “Directions for Derivatives Transaction for the Labor Funds” were amended and promulgated, amending criteria related to labor insurance funds engaging in derivatives transactions to increase funds operating flexibility.

2016-01-10

László Andor, the ex-Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner of the European Commission, was invited to visit Taiwan. Arrangements were made to meet government agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development Council, and the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Commissioner Andor also gave keynote speeches at the Ministry of Labor, the European Union Centre in Taiwan, the European Union Research Centre, and the National Chengchi University. Also, he had exchanges and communications with all relevant parties on topics related to Taiwan and European labor and social security.

The “Youth Placement Flag-ship Program” was amended so that for training institutions who provide students a monthly salary of more than NT$30,000 or more, the training period may be extended from 3 months to 6 months.

2016-01-29

Advance repayment of severance pay was approved, totaling more than NT$ 47,520,000 owed to 648 workers of Chili Lighting Corporation Limited. The funds were deposited into the accounts in financial institutions designated by applicants on February 2, 2016. This is the first advance repayment case that is related to Article 50-4 of the “Enforcement Rules of the Labor Standards Act” after it was amended.

2016-02-04

The “Government Agencies (Organizations) Use Labor Contracting Reference Principles” was promulgated, strengthening the protection of worker rights for contracting manufacturers’ stationed workers and the contract work by natural persons.

2016-02-09

Certain provisions set forth in the “Regulations of Occupational Safety and Health Management” were amended and promulgated, adjusting the performance accreditation system of occupational safety and health management system and expanding the applicable scope of business units which must establish occupational safety and health management system.

2016-03-01

Starting March 1, 2016, the Taoyuan City Government, in accordance with the “Ministry of Labor Commissioning to Handle Employment Center Business Implementation Plan” promulgated by Ministry of Labor on April 21, 2015, accepted the commission to run the employment services of the Zhongli Employment Center for a period of 3 years.

2016-03-09

Announcement was made that short-term cram schools established by appointed companies may hire foreigners having international cooking related licenses with more than five years of work experiences in foreign catering industry and more than 2-year teaching experiences in famous international culinary education institutions to engage in culinary teaching.

2016-03-14

Certain provisions set forth in the “Qualifications and Criteria Standards for Foreigners Undertaking the Jobs Specified under Article 46.1.8 to 46.1.11 of the Employment Service Act” were amended, and Chapter 5-1 was updated. These allow employers to hire foreign workers to engage in the slaughter, cutting, disintegration and dispensation of livestock or related labor which became effect on March 16, 2016.

2016-03-17

The “Job Training and Readjustment Program” was amended, adding elderly people as applicable targets.

2016-03-18

The "Table of Grades of Insured Salary" was amended and promulgated so that the highest grade is now NT$45,800 and being effective starting May 1, 2016.

2016-03-23

Certain provisions set forth in the “Regulations of the Labor Health Protection" were amended and promulgated to exempt workers engaged in on-the job training of labor health service medical staff and certain temporary or short-term general workers from medical examination.

2016-03-23

The International Federation of Training and Development Organization (IFTDO) held its 45th annual meeting in Bahrain from March 21 to 23, 2016. The Workforce Development Agency of the Ministry of Labor won the Merit Award in the Best Human Resource Development Practices Category of the 2016 Global HRD Awards with the theme of “Using TaiwanJobs Virtual and Real Integration to provide lifelong career counseling and planning services”.

2016-03-28

The “Program for Private Groups Participation in National Activities of Employment Promotion” was amended to consider assisting social enterprise development and to clearly include the goals of social enterprise development. Provisions such as the scope of the subsidies and relevant application and results reporting procedures were also amended.

2016-04-01

On-line working permit applications were made available for foreign professional school teachers, cram school teachers, sports, and performing artists, providing employers with a 24-hour online application option of submissions, payments, and inquiries; also, options to notify applicants of review results with emails and through APPs were provided.

2016-05-01

Grade 20 of NT$45,800 was added to the “Table of Grades of Insured Salary” so that the applicable monthly insurance salary of the labor (employment) insurance insured with total salary of more than NT$43,900 becomes NT$45,800. To protect the interests of the insured, the Ministry of Labor used information such as wage contributing labor pension and National Health Insurance insured amount to directly adjust labor (employment) insurance salary.

2016-05-02

The “Subsidy Directions of Safety and Health Installations for Surface Treatment Industry, Ministry of Labor” was announced, guiding and subsidizing the surface treatment industry to improve plant safety and health and to provide labor safety and healthy working environments.

2016-05-05

Attended the 38th annual meeting and series meetings of the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and participated in the APEC 6th Preparatory Meeting of Ministers of Education to promote the “APEC Skills Development Capacity Building Alliance”. Also reported on a new proposal, the idea of “work life quality and quality growth under global supply/value chains”; the intention was that through information gathering and the workshop approach, to jointly search for and find work life quality in APEC regional and global supply chains.

2016-05-10

Abolishment was made for the interpretative ruling which states that students concurrently serving as part-time assistants who are hired by junior colleges and higher educational institutions and participate in labor insurance whose salaries are less than one-half of basic wage can be counted into the total number of employees in the ratio required of hiring disabled persons.

2016-05-12

Certain provisions set forth in the “Act of Gender Equality in Employment” were amended. The key amendments include: 1) expanded applicability of the Act to include employees who need to personally feed their babies less than two years old or need to collect breast milk; their employers shall provide them with the time for feeding or breast milk collection sixty minutes a day in addition to regular resting period(s); 2) deleted the restrictions on the number of times that one can feed or collect breast milk; 3) for employees who work overtime in excess of 1 hour of daily normal work hours, their employers shall provide them with an additional thirty minutes for feeding or breast milk collection; 4) expanded the number of applicable employers from those having two hundred and fifty employees or more to those employing one hundred employees or more; such employers must provide breastfeeding (breast milk collection) rooms, childcare facilities or suitable childcare measures; 5) for victims subject to lawsuits because of workplace sexual harassment and are notified by the judicial authorities to appear in court, official leave shall be given by employers for their court appearance.

2016-05-31

The “Subsidy Project of Advocating for Work Life Balance” was amended by increasing the amount of subsidies and extending support to companies to provide family-friendly measures.

2016-06-02

The “Pilot Plan Subsidized by Ministry of Labor for Local Governments to Stabilize Employment of Workers with Occupational Accidents” was announced, to strengthen the assistance of occupational accident worker to return to work.

2016-06-02

The “Directions on the Medical Examination Quality and the Health Management Ranking for Labor Physical and Health Examination Recognized Medical Institutes” was announced; through strengthening visits and results announcement and also providing employers and workers with references to select health examination institutions, interests related to labor physical and health examinations are protected.

2016-06-08

Announcement was made that training units conducting the Health and Safety Education and Training Completion Test for “Class-3 Manager of Occupational Safety and Health Affairs” and “Class-3 Manager of Occupational Safety and Health Affairs for Construction Industry” must be held in the examination centers approved by the central competent authority and will be in effect starting January 1, 2017.

2016-06-15

The interpretation of the establishment principles stated in Paragraph 1, Article 48-1 of the “Employment Service Act” was approved. It states that the local employer of a foreign worker must complete the employer training session held by the competent authority or its designated non-profit organization before hiring a foreign worker to provide home care or household assistance for the first time. Prior to obtaining hiring permits or continual hiring permits issued by the Ministry of Labor, employers must participate in pre-employment workshops. Employers those who have previously obtained hiring permits or continual hiring permits are not subject to this provision.

2016-06-21

The provisions of the entire “Term of Validity, Application Procedure, and Other Documents Required by Center Competent Authorities for the Employer to Recruit the Class B Foreign Worker” were amended, being in effect starting July 1, 2016. Article 3 stipulates that those receiving care who meet specific disability items to recruit foreigners must first apply to the central competent authority within 60 days from the day the long-term care management centers completed their recommendations. In addition, for employers who apply for re-recruitment and the cared for persons meeting specific disability items or not requiring medical professional assessment, previous provisions apply. Article 4 stipulates that one who has a disability handbook and has never hired foreign domestic workers must include a diagnosis certificate which specifies one motor neuron disease. Article 6 was added, and it stipulates that for employers who are hiring foreigners to work in homecare work or become family helpers for the first time, the employers or their agents must submit pre-employment training completion certificates and family relationship certificate.

2016-06-21

Rulings on certain provisions set forth in the “Enforcement Rules of the Labor Standards Act” which were amended on December 9, 2015 would become ineffective starting June 21, 2016. Key provisions recovered include the provisions that basic wage of child labor must be no less less than 70% of basic wage and that national holidays for workers be restored to 19 days.

2016-06-22

The amended “Subsidy Directions of Safety and Health Installations for Small and Medium Businesses, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Ministry of Labor” was promulgated, guiding and subsiding SMEs to improve their safety and health facilities and equipment as well as provide a safe working environment.

2016-06-27

The three letters of file No. (1992) lao-bao 2-zi 22695 dated on August 13, 1992, file No. (1993) lao-bao 2–zi 24213 dated on July 28, 1993, and file No. tai (1993) lao-bao 2-zi 60111 dated on October 23, 1993 were abolished. This requires self-employed persons engaging in the selling and making profit through buying and selling to participate in the labor insurance through professional trade unions.

2016-06-29

The interpretation to Article 26 of the “Labor Standards Act” on official holidays done by the Ministry of the Interior during the period when it was in charge of labor affairs was abolished; the change would be effective starting August 1, 2016.

2016-07-01

The Ministry of Labor promulgated the interest rate for the Insured Person Relief Loan on the Labor Insurance in Taiwan for 2014, 2015, and 2016. The annual interest rate is 1.495% starting the first business day of July 2016.

2016-07-01

To enable employers who hire foreign family caregivers and housemaids for the first time to learn more about the employment laws and regulations before employment and to strengthen the management of foreign workers, Article 48-1 of the Employment Service Act stipulates that the local employer of a foreign worker must complete the employer training session held by the competent authority or its designated non-profit organization before hiring a foreign worker to provide home care or household assistance for the first time. In addition, prospective employers must submit a certificate of attendance when they apply for employment permits. The pre-employment training system was implemented on July 1, 2016, and the public can choose to participate using one of the three methods listed: "On-line training", "at-the-counter training" or "group training". The number of pre-employment training hours required is one hour.

2016-07-01

The number of items and services of the online application system was expanded for foreign workers, providing employers with 24-hour online application, payment and acceptance services.

2016-07-01

The “Regulations of the Settlement Labor Insurance Disputes” was amended and promulgated. Amendments included the following: 1) the time limitation of settlement opinion provided by the Bureau of Labor Insurance, 2) addition of provisions on undertaking the application for settlement if the applicant dies after applying for examination and review or if the legal person is eliminated because of merger, and 3) amendment of the responsibilities and names of relevant authorities in accordance with the reorganization of the Executive Yuan and the amendments of Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan. The amendments became effective on July 1, 2016.

2016-07-01

Between now and December 8, the initiative is taken to notify workers reaching 60 years old who have stopped paying for more than one year (and may be retired) to apply for labor pension. Labor pension applications are attached so that workers may apply for their pensions in order to protect their pension rights. More than 62,000 notices are expected to be sent.

2016-07-11

As of September 30, in response to Typhoon Nepartak of July 7, Typhoon Meranti of September 12, and Typhoon Megi of September 12, the following assistance measures were provided: (1) According to the provisions of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act, the insurance premium borne by the insured of labor insurance, employment insurance, agricultural insurance, and national pension of those who are affected by the disaster will be subsidized by the government for 6 months. The Bureau of Labor Insurance of the Ministry of Labor sent letters to the affected city/county governments to obtain the lists of victims, taking the initiative to take care of the premium subsidies; (2) Those insured with labor insurance who were injured by natural disasters may apply to the Bureau of Labor Insurance of the Ministry of Labor for payment of sickness and injury benefits starting from the day of treatment; (3) Insured units in disaster areas may apply to postpone payment of labor and employment insurance premiums and labor pension on a case by case basis for exemption from late fee penalties; and (4) Simplification of all payment and application procedures and prompt payment of pension.

2016-07-14

The Ministry promulgated that if the documents required to be prepared when employers apply for employment of foreigners to do the work set forth in Subparagraphs 8 to 10 of Paragraph 1 of Article 46 of the Employment Service Act and if employers or foreigners applying for foreigners to change their employers or work can be verified and known from the internet, then the documents may be exempted from preparation. This promulgation entered into force on July 14, 2016.

2016-07-15

The provisions set forth in Articles 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 of the “Directions Governing Micro-Enterprise Start-up Phoenix Loan” were amended in which the registration period for the establishing of businesses being loan eligible will be relaxed from 2 years to 5 years. In addition, one may re-apply for the loan if the amount received is within its upper limit. Moreover, business-related digital courses conducted by the government may serve as study certificates of courses required for loan applications. The loan is also available for application by 20-45-year-old youths from outlying islands.

2016-07-18

The small and medium enterprises’ voluntary inspection and maintenance management aids were developed in order to establish the Enterprise Resource Planning system and to connect with cloud technology. By using mobile phones and PC tablets and by being in the cloud environment, the public can carry out site health and safety inspection data access queries. In addition, the connecting of system functions such as production management, decision support management, and so forth with the safety and health inspection system of the factory’s Manufacturing Execution System was planned.

2016-07-20

Articles 18, 21 to 23 and 30 of the Regulations for Implementation of Employment Insurance Promoting Employment were amended, incorporating re-employed women into specific targeted categories of the Employment Incentive Measures. They can use the Measures to help them become employed as soon as possible once they fulfill the condition of being unemployed for 30 consecutive days.

2016-07-28

The “Regulations on Subsidy and Standards for Establishing Breastfeeding (Breast Milk Collection) Rooms, Childcare Facilities and Measures” was amended, stipulating the definitions of breastfeeding (breast milk collection) rooms and childcare facilities and measures set forth in Article 23 of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment. The requirements for childcare measures funding subsidy were relaxed so that the employer which provides childcare allowance can apply for funds subsidy without the need of having contracts signed.

2016-08-05

The “Safety Standard of Machinery and Equipment” was amended and promulgated to match the trend of standard development to formulate safety regulations that are consistent with international standards for better and more comprehensive labor safety and security.

2016-08-08

The “Regulations Paying the Premium and Injury Payment of Labor Insurance and Employment Insurance for Disaster-Affected Labor Insured in the Disaster Area” was amended and promulgated, stipulating that the insurance premiums payable by the insured in the six-month period after the disaster shall be paid by the Government. In the affected areas, for those insured with labor insurance who were injured because of natural disasters, the conditions required to apply for injury payment starting from the date of treatment were relaxed. In coordination with Articles 44-45 of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act, its implementation began on August 6, 2016.

2016-08-10

The “Ministry of Labor Subsidy Directions for Promoting Enterprises to Improve the Working Environment and Workers Health” was amended and promulgated, to help employers create a healthful working environment and promote the improvement of the working environment and workplace physical and mental health measures. These are done to enhance the health of the workforce and to provide stability for workers to remain in the workplace.

2016-08-11

The “Hazardous Workplace Review and Inspection Rules” was amended and promulgated, adding provisions that full-time engineering staff must sign off on the portion of occupational safety and health facilities which are related to professional technologies. In addition, amendments were made regarding the situation that if there are changes to the main classification of construction methods in workplace of category D, the parties concerned must conduct their own assessments. Regarding assessing the hazards, necessary precautions must be taken, and the construction plan and construction safety assessment report must be updated and recorded accordingly.

2016-08-22

The “ Ministry of Labor Breastfeeding (Breast Milk Collection) Room, Childcare Facilities and Measures Operating Instructions” was amended, in coordination with the “Regulations on Subsidy and Standards for Establishing Breastfeeding (Breast Milk Collection) Rooms, Childcare Facilities and Measures” to amend the relevant norms and to increase the number of subsidy applications from once every year to twice every year.

2016-09-05

The selection and recognition of "2016 Work and Life Balance Award" was held to select and promote enterprise creative measures from the aspects of "Work Autonomy and Achievement", "Family Care and Support" and "Physical and Mental Health and Safety".

2016-09-07

The “Directions on Accreditation of Labor Health Examination Medical Institutes' Staff Training Units” was amended and promulgated, to update the regulations with regard to on-the-job training for medical and health personnel conducting labor health examination and their respective training institutions and also to coordinate with the administrative management system. The newly added accreditation training institutions must register the relevant information of the trainees in the education and training system.

2016-09-09

The “Directions Governing Labor Lodging Establishments Management" was promulgated in order for labor academies and labor and recreation centers to provide labor accommodation in various cities and counties with relevant regulations of business management and safety maintenance to govern them during the statutory transitional period prior to the registration as a member of the hotel industry.

2016-09-09

The “Regulations Governing the Labor Accommodation Operation under the Competent Labor Authority" was abolished. Having been established in accordance with Paragraph 3 of Article 24 of the Act for the Development of Tourism, the Regulations was abolished because the basis of its formulation was deleted.

2016-09-10

The arrangement of official holidays prescribed by Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act based on the principle, “Using 7 days as one period, there must be at least 1 day of official holiday; in addition, workers must not work continuously for more than 6 days" was drafted. However, there are three categories of special circumstances which are exceptions, with the precondition of having obtained prior consent from workers.

2016-09-19

The following provisions were promulgated: starting on October 1, 2016, the basic wage would be adjusted to NT$ 126 per hour; starting on January 1, 2017, the hourly basic wage will be adjusted to NT$ 133, and the monthly basic wage will be adjusted to NT$ 21,009.

2016-09-22

The "Matters to Be Noted on Labor and Employer Collective Bargaining to Adjust the Official Holidays" was promulgated to serve as reference for compliance by both employers and employees regarding the drafted adjustment of official holidays.

2016-09-22

The “Regulations for Labor Safety and Health Education and Training” was amended and promulgated for the following purposes: 1) to review and revise the education and training courses and hours of occupational safety and health management personnel, 2) to strengthen handling of the training management and informatization of training documents by safety and health education and training units, and 3) to authorize local authorities to participate in the evaluation of the training units. The objective of these measures is to enhance the quality of safety and health education and training, and the measures will be implemented starting January 1, 2017.

2016-09-27

As of September 29, using the insurance salary of labor (employment) insurance and the contribution wages for labor pension in September 2016 as the comparison benchmarks, the operations of directly increasing the insurance salary of labor (employment) insurance according to contribution wages for labor pension and directly increasing the monthly contribution wages for labor pension according to the insurance wage of labor insurance were implemented. Both adjustments became effective starting October 1, 2016. Those of more than 1,000 labor (employment) insurance units, more than 3,000 insured persons, more than 4,000 labor pension contribution units , and more than 7,700 workers were directly adjusted. The letters of notification of the direct adjustments were sent to all units at the end of September.

2016-10-01

The basic wage was adjusted to NT$126 per hour.

2016-10-03

Co-organized the “Symposium and Workshop on Strategies for Strengthening Employability Soft Skills: Facilitating Quality Growth through Upskilling” with Peru, the APEC host country. The results were incorporated into the 6th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting Joint Statement as our contribution to the AEMMs and following Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

2016-10-05

Amended and promulgated Articles 43 and 82 of the “Enforcement Rules of the Labor Insurance Act”, adding that the insured person may claim the survivor benefits without having to apply through the insurance unit, and that those who have completed the death registration for the family member may not have to submit a death certificate nor a valid household registration form or a National I.D. photocopy of the insured person with the death registration of death listed.

2016-10-07

Amended and promulgated Articles 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3 of the “Enforcement Rules of the Labor Standards Act” to clearly specify ways to conduct the after-resignation business strife limitation agreement between the employers and the employees, as well as reasonable range and reasonable compensation for both employers and employees to follow.

2016-10-13

Amended and promulgated the “Regulations on Aids for Legal Service and Living Expenses of Labor-Management Disputes”, expanding the support range for agent remuneration in unfair labor practice rulings; in addition to the original dismissal disputes, this amendment includes types of labor disputes such as demotion, wage reduction and other unfair treatment covered in the provisions set forth in Subparagraphs 1, 3 and 4 of Article 35 of the Labor Union Act.

2016-10-21

Allow insured persons of labor insurance with Taiwan nationality to apply for their survivor benefits with their citizen digital certificates.

2016-10-27

Sent staff to participate in the 2016 Nuremberg Invention Exhibition to promote the R&D results of the Institute of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Labor--a "PORTABLE NANOPARTICLE SAMPLER" invention patent; participated in the four-day exhibition and won a gold medal in the invention contest, raising our research profile.

2016-10-29

Held the 2016 "National Recognition Program for Outstanding Labor Volunteers” to award the "Outstanding Labor Volunteers", "Senior Labor Volunteers", and "Outstanding Volunteer Teams", recognizing the contribution of volunteer service offered by workers around the country.

Amended and promulgated the “Implementation Directions for Promoting and Establishing Network Institutes to Provide Occupational Health Services, Ministry of Labor”, providing employers and workers with accessible, sustainable, and comprehensive health services and personal health counseling service on work site, and helping employers improve working environment and promote physical and mental health in the workplace in order to develop a healthy workforce and to increase labor retention.

2016-11-02

Amended and promulgated the “Regulations on Monitoring Working Environment”, adding that if employers monitor the concentration of carbon dioxide with direct-reading instruments in accordance with Article 11 of the said Regulations, their monitoring plans and monitoring reports are not required to be submitted in accordance with Articles 10 and 12 of the same Regulations.

2016-11-02

Held the “APEC Skills Development Capacity Building Alliance (ASD-CBA) and Facilitating Quality Growth through Upskilling Forum” in which representatives from a total of 18 countries attended, including those from the Philippines, Indonesia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam, and others from APEC economies and ASEAN countries. This Forum initiated the talent training and exchange component of Taiwan’s Southbound Policy, stepping onto a new milestone for quality growth.

2016-11-03

Amended and promulgated the First grade of Table of Grades of Insured Salary to NT$21,009, enacting from January 1, 2017.

2016-11-03

Amended and promulgated Paragraph 4, Article 52 of the “Employment Service Act”, deleting the provision specifying that foreign workers should go abroad one day on the expiration of employment permit before re-entry for work. This amendment, without compromising the employment benefits of Taiwan’s workers and under the condition that foreign workers are not applying for permanent residence or naturalization to become a Taiwanese citizen, can simplify the renewal procedures, thereby shortening the window period when employers have to fill in the vacant labor and increasing human resource flexibility, while also easing foreign workers from having to pay the exuberant agent fees.

0001-01-01

2016-11-04

Approved the payment standard for the “Pressure & Oxygen Tolerance Test" item in the Occupational Disease Prevention Health Check under the labor insurance.

Amended and promulgated parts of the provisions set forth in the “Regulations for Management, Utilization and Supervision of the National Pension Insurance Fund”, modifying relevant regulations on the investment in commercial promissory notes, equity securities, debt securities and collective trust products, and ensuring consistent operation standards for fund utilization.

2016-11-15

Amended and promulgated the “Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers” in conjunction with Paragraph 4, Article 52 of the Employment Service Act amended and promulgated by the President on November 3, 2016, deleting the provisions set forth in Subparagraphs 8 to 10, Paragraph 1, Article 46 that foreign workers should go abroad one day before re-entry for work, and newly adding application procedures and regulations for former employers to continue or new employers to hire foreign workers upon expiration of an employment permit.

2016-11-16

Amended and promulgated Articles 5, 24, 46 and 48 of the “Labor Pension Act” that workers who are sixty years or older and whose seniority exceeds fifteen years may choose to receive either monthly pension payments or a lump-sum pension payment. Giving workers more options when applying for pension and helping them plan their retirement with more autonomy and flexibility. Meanwhile, when a business entity refuses to provide information and materials or takes an unfavorable measure against employees who file complaints, the upper limit of the fine is raised to NT$300,000 from the original NT$150,000.

2016-11-16

Amended and promulgated Paragraph 3, Article 26 of the “Labor Union Act”, adding that before the dismissal and suspension of member representatives, the worker should be given an opportunity to present his/her opinions before reaching a resolution in the general meeting of members or member representatives based on the principle of due process of law and to provide workers with procedural protection.

2016-11-21

Amended and promulgated parts of the provisions in the “Regulations for Safety Inspection of Hazardous Machines and Equipments”, adding that fixed cranes advancing or climbing upward along the construction progress in the same construction project may be exempted from the relevant inspection items.

2016-11-26

In order to strengthen the awareness of occupational hazard prevention among foreign workers, the "Occupational Safety and Health Hazard Prevention Exhibition" was held at Taipei Main Station in cooperation with the Association of Caring Service for Foreigners in the Republic of China. This event aimed to educate foreign workers about the common occupational hazards facing foreign workers in productive industries and social welfare sectors. The exhibition activities were meant to be both educational and entertaining, including a disaster prevention display car, and an experience area designed with different challenges, such as working at heights, climbing in limited space, ergonomic hazards, and electrical shock hazards. Participants could learn about occupational hazards and prevention methods in various working environments. There was also a display of the patents and research results by the Institute of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Labor.

2016-12-19

Announced the “2017 Relief Loans for the Labor Insurance Insured Persons”. Applicants were accepted between December 23, 2016 and January 6, 2017

Enacted and promulgated the “Implementation Regulations on Adjusted Support Measures for Labor Employment in Response to Trade Liberalization”, improving the Government's ability to provide business entities and workers with protection measures to cope with the consequences of trade liberalization, to strengthen labor employability, and to help workers stabilize their jobs, change jobs or seek reemployment

2016-12-21

Amended and promulgated parts of the provisions in the “Labor Standards Act”, specifying that workers should have two rest days every seven days, of which 1 day is for holiday, and 1 day is for rest day to implement a two-day weekend scheme for workers; lowered the legal threshold to take special holidays, and increased the number of special holidays for workers; and strengthened the protection of worker rights to file complaints, while raising penalties.

Increased 0.5% of the ordinary insurance premium rate of labor insurance; calculated by 9.5% of the insured person's monthly insurance salary, plus the employment premium rate of 1%, a total of 10.5%.

2017-01-01

With the adjustment of basic wages, amended the “Table of Grades of Insurance Salary of Labor Insurance” and the “Table of Monthly Contribution Wages of Labor Pension”. The Bureau of Labor Insurance adjusted the monthly insurance salary/contribution to NT$21,009 for the full-time workers with the labor insurance salary less than NT$21,009 and contribution wage of labor pension was NT$20,008, NT$20,100, and NT$21,000.

2017-01-03

According to the announcement on December 12, 2016, for the Insured Person Hardship Loan under the Labor Insurance, the interest rate during the loan period of 2014, 2015, and 2016 shall be 1.4% per annum from the first business day in January 2017.

2017-01-05

The "Supervision and Inspection Principles for Amendment of Labor Standards Act" was formulated to comply with and implement the provisions of the Labor Standards Act amended and promulgated on December 21, 2016. These principles also establish consistent rules for the competent authorities to follow when conducting labor inspections. The three steps of public promotion, counseling, and inspection shall assist and urge business units to implement the Act, so as to insure labor rights and interests.

2017-01-05

In conjunction with the organizational reform of the Executive Yuan and the provisions of the "Labor Pension Act" amended and promulgated on November 16, 2016, the Ministry of Labor amended and promulgated Article 2, Article 12-1, Article 32, Article 34, Article 44, and Article 48 of the "Enforcement Rules of the Labor Pension Act", adjusting the name of the relevant organizations and business responsibilities, stipulating that a worker who is sixty years or older and whose seniority exceeds fifteen years may choose to receive either monthly pension payments or a lump-sum pension payment, and deleting the monthly imposition of late payment charges.

2017-01-05

In conjunction with the provisions of the “Labor Pension Act” amended and promulgated on November 16, 2016, the Ministry of Labor amended and promulgated the provisions set forth in Article 42 of the “Regulations for the Implementation of Annuity Insurance under the Labor Pension Act” and detailed that the annuity insurance contract shall stipulate the terms and conditions for workers claiming annuity payment.

2017-01-06

Amended and released “Dual-track Training Flagship Initiative”, to add the trainee transition mechanism.

2017-01-10

Master and doctoral students of Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health visited the Institute of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Labor for international exchange of research and experiment related to health and safety, and visited Occupation Safety and Health Exhibitions where they saw how technology can help promote education for occupational injury prevention.

2017-01-11

Amended and released Articles 5, 6-1, 7, 16, 19-1, 28, 32, 34, 40, 40-1, and 41 of the “Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers”, stipulating the longest working hours per week of overseas Chinese students and foreign students and the preservation of documents in response to Internet transmission of application cases, strengthening foreign employment management, and simplifying the review process, so that relevant provisions are more comprehensive.

2017-01-13

With the amendment of Article 28 of the “Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers”, when an employer applies for a foreign worker employment permit, he/she shall be exempted from providing the health examination supporting document required for foreign manual workers.

2017-01-15

Interpreted the principles of handling an employer’s overdue application of employment permission and of the permission for consecutive employment, and also handling employers who have never applied for employment permission. For the first situation of overdue applications, the employers will be disqualified from employing foreigners, but this will not become the basis for punishment. As for the cases when an employer has never applied for an employment permission or a permission for consecutive employment, it shall be considered that the employer is in violation of the relevant provisions of the “Employment Service Act”.

2017-01-16

Per the Executive Yuan order, the Ministry of Labor enacted the amended Article 26 of the “Labor Union Act”. An addition provision stipulated that before the suspension or expulsion of a member, the member shall be given the opportunity to give a statement prior to the resolution made at the meeting of members or the meeting of member representatives.

2017-02-02

Interpreted the make-up application provision set forth in Article 46-1 of the “Regulations on the Permission and Administration of the Employment of Foreign Workers”, and added the provisions set forth in Article 28-3 of the Regulations for renewal employment permission upon expiration. An employer shall make up submitting an application to the Ministry of Labor before the expiry of the effective term of the foreign worker’s employment permission; in addition, to employ the same foreigner, the make-up application is limited to one time.

2017-02-06

Amended and promulgated the “Operation Points Approving and Managing the Training Institutions for Physicians and Nursing Staff Engaged in Labor Health Services”, adding the provisions related to the legal support in holding trainings for physicians and nursing staff engaged in labor health services and government training institutions, training types (professional training and on-the-job education and training), and the requirement to apply as a training institution.

2017-02-09

Held the Hair and Beauty Industry Social Dialogue, inviting representatives from labor, management, government and the academia to facilitate progresses in the industry and build dialogues, and consensus were built regarding promoting industry-education cooperation, stabilizing employment, and increasing salaries.

2017-02-10

A service was provided for employers of foreign workers to use the IC ATM Card to pay on-line the employment security fees on the “E-bill” website.

2017-02-16

A major tour bus overturning accident occurred on No. 5 national highway. The Ministry of Labor initiated the “Travel agencies and Tour Bus Companies Joint Inspection Project”, in conjunction with the Directorate General of Highways and Tourism Bureau of Ministry of Transportation, municipality governments, and consumer protection officers to select travel agencies or tour bus companies (Class C and D) that committed frequent violations or irregularities of major circumstances, or poor evaluation, or were evaluated poorly during the joint inspection.

2017-03-01

Completed the dividend distribution under the new labor pension system of a total of NT$51,540,820,000 in 2016 to more than 10.8 million personal accounts. Media and online announcements were also made to notify and remind the workers about the dividend distribution. Multiple channels were made available for workers to inquire the dividends and accumulated amounts of their personal pension accounts.

2017-03-02

The Ministry of Labor held a seminar titled “Industrial Innovation and Human Capital Application of Big Data on Labor and Health Welfare” , organizing keynote speeches by experts in the industries, government, academic and research, and facilitating discussions on the issues of middle and old age employment, platform economy, labor force and employment of diverse groups, health and welfare, and human capital. The Seminar also promoted the cooperation between labor, health and welfare databases.

2017-03-03

In order to prevent unsafe behaviors of workers in the construction industry, the Ministry of Labor held a sharing meeting on “Best Intervention Practices for Behavior-Based Safety in Construction Industry”. Through the “Guidance of Promotion Practice for Behavior-Based Safety in Construction Industry” and an effectiveness assessment on intervention of behavior-based safety in construction sites, the meeting participants shared relevant technologies to improve the behavior-based safety practices in Taiwan’s construction industry.

2017-03-10

In accordance with the pension reform planning period, and in accordance with the consensus of the regional forums and national conference, the Ministry of Labor invited authorities, agencies, and representatives for to jointly study about drafting and filing a partial amendment to the "Labor Insurance Act" and reported by letter to the Executive Yuan for review. Since March, the Ministry of Labor also has held seminars on the 2017 labor insurance related laws and regulations (including Labor Pension Reform Program) in counties and cities nationwide. An estimated 24 sessions will be held for 4,800 participants.

11-12. 03. 2017 Jointly held “The 24th Annual Conference of Ergonomics Society of Taiwan and Academic Symposium” with the Ergonomics Society of Taiwan. The theme of this symposium is "Ergonomics + Industry 4.0 Challenges and Opportunities."In the symposium, participants shared academic achievements, and seminars were held to facilitate industry-academia interactions and enhance ergonomics and design standards. The Ministry of Labor delivered three papers in total: An Estimation of 3D Body Volume of Female Workers in Taiwan, A Comparison of the Friction Coefficient for Anti-slip Assessment Criteria of Two Kinds of Footwear, and A Survey on the Status of Aids Used by the visually Impaired Workers.

2017-03-24

For the Development of New Zealand Social Enterprise & 2017 SEWF, the Ministry of Labor invited to Taiwan Chris O’Neill, the Venture Manager of Akina Foundation, the host of 2017, to exchange practical experiences, and promote international exchanges for social enterprises in Taiwan.

2017-03-29

Amended the provisions set forth in Article 15 of the “Enforcement Rules of the Labor Insurance Act”, and sent to the Executive Yuan for consideration. According to the amended provisions, the person in charge can sign, instead of affixing a seal, on such relevant information as the Insurance Application Form and Insurance Enrollment Application Form, in order to enhance the convenience for insurance units to apply for coverage enrollment of labor insurance for his/her workers.

2017-03-30

With the counseling period from April, the Ministry of Labor enacted the “Implementation Plan for Counseling of Labor Standards Act”, integrating resources of the central government and local governments, and targeting industry-specific characteristics and business needs. Through ways such as "on-site counseling", "collective counseling" and "counseling application", the Plan actively assists institutions to implement the Labor Standard Act to protect labor rights.

2017-03-31

The "2017 National Workplace Talent Cup Skill Competition Program" was held to encourage people to learn new technologies, improve the national skills level, foster friendship and technological exchanges among industry players, promote teamwork cooperation, and showcase individual skills.